Simultaneous home fires; tax resources for firefighters

Posted on Monday, December 16, 2013 at 12:33 pm

Firefighters from the two districts battled residential fires at exactly the same time Wednesday evening.

According to a report from the Lincoln County Fire Protection District, on Dec. 11 at 10:05 p.m. Lincoln County Fire Protection District #1 was called to Holmes Lane off Hwy. Y to assist Winfield Fire District on a fully involved home fire with injuries. At 10:18 p.m. while Lincoln County Fire units were arriving on scene at Holmes Lane, another call was received for a home fire in the 400 block of Addison Lane off Hwy. H west of Troy.

Fire units responding to Addison Lane reported visible flames from two miles away and called for additional assistance from Northwest, Hawk Point, Wright City and Wentzville Fire Districts. On arrival firefighters found a large two-story home heavily involved with fire in the basement, first floor, second floor and attic. Despite the best efforts of firefighters, the home was not salvageable. The home was vacant and for sale at the time of the fire.

Fire districts assist each other on a daily basis to provide manpower and resources for structure fires, motor vehicle accidents and many other types of emergency calls. This “mutual aid” system allows additional unlimited help to be quickly brought in for the protection of life and property. Many times districts receive help from other districts, such as the Addison Lane and Holmes Lanes.

The mutual aid system goes far beyond local fire districts. In the event of a larger scale incident, districts are able to immediately tap necessary and appropriate resources from surrounding counties, throughout the state and even from other states if necessary. This system is invaluable in providing critical resources for the protection of life and property.

One of the drawbacks to the mutual aid system is that when districts are providing assistance to other districts, such as in the case of Holmes Lane, there are less resources and manpower in own district to respond to emergency calls. However, the benefits of receiving unlimited resources from other districts when needed, greatly outweigh this drawback.

The cause of both fires are currently under investigation. The person initially reported injured in the Holmes Lane fire was not transported to the hospital.

Short video clips of the Addison Lane fire are available at www.facebook.com/LCFPD1.